On Thursday, Emerson reported 13 COVID-19 cases of the 929 tests administered, setting the daily positivity rate at 1.40 percent.
The college reported 27 community members in on-campus isolation. Zero were reported to be in on-campus quarantine.
Those in quarantine may have been exposed to COVID-19 but aren’t experiencing symptoms. Those in isolation are symptomatic, have produced a positive test, or are “reasonably known to be infected,” according to the college. Off-campus students are not counted in the quarantine and isolation numbers.
As of Jan. 3, Emerson has reported 724 positive cases and administered 57,623 tests. The cumulative positivity rate sits at 1.26 percent.
Students are expected to continue to test weekly, per updated COVID-19 guidance put in place Feb. 7.
The state’s upward tick of COVID-19 cases continued on Thursday as Massachusetts reported 2,962 positive cases for Wednesday, with a seven-day positivity rate of 3.66 percent. The death toll rose by two.
The state updated the guidelines to qualify a COVID-related death. The new definition decreases the death toll by 3,770 and includes 355 deaths and probable deaths not previously recorded. All newly reported deaths occurred prior to April 2021.
Hospitalizations went up as reported on Thursday as the state reported 307, with 175 of these hospitalizations occurring in those who are fully vaccinated.
The state of Massachusetts also tracks two kinds of COVID-19 positivity rates—one including higher education testing and one without. The seven-day positive rate without higher education sits at 5.01 percent as of April 13. Including higher education, the rate sits at 3.66 percent as of April 13.
Massachusetts reported 16,939 new vaccinations—including boosters—from Wednesday to Thursday, bringing the state’s total to 14,295,682 doses. Thursday’s daily vaccination update reported that 5,342,183 Mass. residents—according to Mass. Department of Health data, approximately 77 percent of the state’s population—are fully vaccinated, meaning that they have received both doses of the Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Emerson dropped its indoor mask mandate on March 21 following an update to COVID-19 protocol. Students may optionally wear a mask indoors in any college facility except for classrooms, the Center for Health and Wellness, and Emerson’s Counseling and Psychological Services offices.
Additionally, in a community-wide email sent by “COVID Lead” Erik Muurisepp, the college announced May 16 as the college’s anticipated date to adopt a mask optional policy in classrooms and other academic spaces.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 booster shot for people age 50 and older and for some immunocompromised people to better protect against the coronavirus. Those eligible for the dose may receive it at least four months after their first booster.
Emerson shifted from a manual data reporting process to an automatic one on Oct. 13. The decision followed a Beacon investigation that revealed a string of inaccuracies in the data reported by the college.
The college’s dashboard is updated daily Monday through Friday. When it was first launched in August, the college opted for weekly updates before eventually shifting to twice weekly and then daily updates. Tabs for hospitalizations and the number of “invalid” results received by community members have since been removed from the dashboard after testing began in August. Invalid results are typically a result of user error and require re-testing.
Administrators said in August the decision to remove hospitalizations was part of an effort to increase transparency, as the college was concerned it could not accurately track the metric. Invalid results were deemed “not valuable” data by Muurisepp.
The dashboard is not updated on weekends because Emerson’s testing site at Tufts Medical Center is closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
